Predictors and Perceptions of Healthcare Workers Regarding Vaccines Safety in the Initial Phase of COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in Western Part of India: A Regression Analysis.

Background The COVID-19 vaccination was launched in a phased manner by the government of India prioritizing healthcare workers. This study assessed the perception of healthcare workers regarding COVID-19 vaccination. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare workers vaccinated at a tertiary care center of southern Rajasthan. Logistic regression analysis was used to note the association of perception regarding vaccine safety and other variables. Results Out of 3,102, 56.8% were male, and the majority (73.7%) were in the age range of 20-35 years. Out of the total, 80.7% and 73.2% of subjects perceived the vaccine as safe and effective, respectively. The perception regarding the timing of rolling out of vaccine and readiness for COVID-19 appropriate behavior after vaccination was statistically significant (p<0.001). The commonest undesirable effect following vaccination was pain at the injection site. Most of the subjects did not report undesirable effects following vaccination. Logistic regression analysis showed that the involvement in the direct care of COVID-19 patients (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.29, 1.94), the experience of COVID-19 infection in the past (OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.91), the timing of the rollout of vaccine (OR: 3.60; 95% CI: 3.24, 4.10) showed a significant association with perception of the safety of COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusions The vaccine was perceived safe and effective by healthcare workers and reported minimal undesirable effects. The COVID-19 vaccine safety is also dependent on the past COVID-19 infection, involvement in patient care, and time of rollout of the vaccine.

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with COVID mortality among hospitalized patients in Rajasthan: A retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: It has been over a year since the declaration of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as pandemic by World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Although mortality in India is low, as compared to western countries, the steady increase in the number of cases is still a worrying sign. The objectives of this study were to identify and quantify the association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics with mortality among patients, suffering from COVID-19 at a tertiary care hospital in Udaipur, Rajasthan. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study involved 824 patients hospitalized for COVID 19 at a tertiary hospital in Udaipur, who were discharged or had died. Electronic health records of the patients were accessed to retrieve the sociodemographic information (age, gender, residence, religion, socioeconomic status), history of exposure, clinical characteristics on admission, comorbidities, and outcomes (recovery or death). The Cox regression model was used to calculate associations between mortality and baseline characteristics in the form of hazard ratios (HRs). RESULTS: Mortality in this study was found to be 5.82%. The mean age of the patients was 48.14 ± 16.2 years. The median time from time of admission to discharge was 8 days (interquartile range (IQR) 5-11), whereas the median time to death was 5 days (IQR 4-10). The variables found to be associated with higher mortality were age (HR 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-1.24), residing in urban area (HR 1.29; 95% CI 1.17-2.15), diabetes mellitus (HR 1.3; CI 1.02-5.57), and patients having both diabetes and hypertension (HR 2.4; CI 1.69-3.14). CONCLUSION: Sociodemographic variables and comorbidities impact the mortality among COVID 19 patients. The variables most clearly associated with a greater hazard of death were older age, urban area, diabetes, and having both diabetes and hypertension.

Impaired innate host defense causes susceptibility to respiratory virus infections in cystic fibrosis.

Viral infection is the primary cause of respiratory morbidity in cystic fibrosis (CF) infants. Here, we identify that host factors allow increased virus replication and cytokine production, providing a mechanism for understanding the severity of virus disease in CF. Increased virus is due to lack of nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) and 2', 5' oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) 1 induction in response to virus or IFNgamma. This can be attributed to impairment of activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1, a fundamental component to antiviral defense. NO donor or NOS2 overexpression provides protection from virus infection in CF, suggesting that NO is sufficient for antiviral host defense in the human airway and is one strategy for antiviral therapy in CF children.

Characterization of the oligomerization domain of the phosphoprotein of human parainfluenza virus type 3.

The phosphoprotein (P) of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV 3) plays a central role in the viral genome RNA transcription and replication. It acts as an essential cofactor of the RNA polymerase (L) by forming a functional L-P complex, binds to the genomic N-RNA template to recruit the L-P complex for RNA synthesis, and interacts with the nucleocapsid protein (N) to form the encapsidation complex (N-P). We have earlier demonstrated that the P protein forms oligomers (B. P. De, M. A. Hoffman, S. Choudhary, C. C. Huntley, and A. K. Banerjee, 2000, J. Virol. 74, 5886-5895) and in this article we identified the putative oligomerization domain of the P protein and studied the role of this domain in transcription. By computer analyses, we have localized a high-score coiled-coil motif characteristic of oligomerization domain residing between the amino acid residues 423 and 457 of the P protein. Deletion of 12 amino acid residues within this coiled-coil motif (P Delta 439-450) completely abrogated oligomerization, whereas deletion in other regions outside the motif had no significant effect. The mutant P Delta 439-450 was both defective in mRNA synthesis in vitro and minigenome transcription in vivo. Interestingly, the mutant interacted with L to form L-P complex, albeit less efficiently, while its interaction with N protein to form N-P complex and with N-RNA template was similar to the wt P protein. Our results indicate that oligomerization provides a key function to the P protein in the transcription of HPIV 3 genome RNA.

Role of a highly conserved NH(2)-terminal domain of the human parainfluenza virus type 3 RNA polymerase.

The RNA polymerase complex of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV 3), a member of the family Paramyxoviridae, is composed of two virally encoded polypeptides: a multifunctional large protein (L, 255 kDa) and a phosphoprotein (P, 90 kDa). From extensive deduced amino acid sequence analyses of the cDNA clones of a number of L proteins of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses, a cluster of high-homology sequence segments have been identified within the body of the L proteins. Here, we have focused on the NH(2)-terminal domain of HPIV 3 L protein that is also highly conserved. Following mutational analyses within this domain, we examined the ability of the mutant L proteins to (i) transcribe an HPIV 3 minireplicon, (ii) transcribe the viral RNA in vitro using the HPIV 3 nucleocapsid RNA template, and (iii) interact with HPIV 3 P protein. Our results demonstrate that the first 15 amino acids of the NH(2)-terminal domain spanning a highly conserved motif is directly involved in transcription of the genome RNA and in forming a functional complex with the P protein. Substitution of eight nonconserved amino acids within this domain by the corresponding Sendai virus L protein residues yielded mutants with variable transcriptional activities. However, one mutant in which all eight amino acids were replaced with the corresponding residues of Sendai virus L protein failed to both transcribe the minireplicon and interact with HPIV 3 P and the Sendai virus P protein. The possible functional significance of the NH(2)-terminal domain of paramyxovirus L protein is discussed.